Refrigerating apparatus



Feb. 18,1941. H. B. HULL A V, REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Fi led Oct. 24,1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ENTO V i ATTOIZNEYfi Feb. 18,1941. B U L 2,232,459

REFRIGERATING APPARA-TUS Filed Oct. 24, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 aIgVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 18, 1941 2,232,459 REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Harry B. Hull,Dayton, Ohio, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, acorporation of Delaware Application October 24, 1934, Serial No. 749,772

7 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigeration.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide an air conditioningapparatus for a room or the like in which the heat dissipating unit iscooled by the evaporation of moisture.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unitary room airconditioner in which the compressor heat is dissipated through thewindow of the room.

It is another object of this invention to provide a unitary room airconditioner with improved air conduit means to be connected to a windowof the room.

Further objects and advantages of the pres- !5 ent invention will beapparent from the fol-- lowing description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present inventionis clearly shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic, of anapparatus embodying features of my invention, and taken along the lineI-| of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic, of aslightly modified form of the invention, the section being taken alongthe line 3-3 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 3.

An air conditioning apparatus embodying features of my inventionincludes, in general, a cabinet I0 having an air cooling section II insaid cabinet in which a heat absorber or evaporator I2 is located. Airis caused to circulate through the compartment II in heat exchangerelationship with the evaporator I2 the cooled 40 air being dischargedat I3 into the room I4.

Air to be circulated over the evaporator I2 may enter through inlet I5which, in this case, is shown to be connected to the interior of theroom I4. A baffle I la. is placed above the evapora- 45 tor I2 so as tocause the air to flow the full length of the evaporator I2. It is to beunderstood, however, that the air could be derived from the outside ofthe room or partially from inside and outside of the room respectively.

5 The air conditioning-apparatus is also provided with a heatdissipator. case, the cabinet is provided with an insulated compartmentI6 in which there is a compressor II driven by a motor I8. Thecompressor I1 55 withdraws evaporated refrigerant from the evap--condenser 2I by spray-heads 33.

In this particularv orator I2 through the line I9 and dischargescompressed refrigerant through the line 20 to the condenser 2|. Meansare provided for circulating air over the condenser and through thewindow 22. This may take the form of an ad- 5 justable conduit 23 whichmay include a rigid casing adjustably secured to thecabinet II] by meansof bolts 24 carried by the conduit 23 and passing through slots 24a inthe cabinet I0. This casing may be divided by a vertical par- 10 tition25 to form air intake and air discharge passages 26 and 21 respectively.Air from outside the room enters through 26 and through the air-flowopening 28 into the compartment I6- and then enters the blower 29, whichis driven from thecompressor IT. The air then flows over the condenser2| and from thence out through the opening 30 into the conduit 21 andout through the window.

Means are provided to circulate a fluid in 20 heat exchange relationshipwith the air flowing through the window and at the same time reduce theeffective temperature of the air. Thus a water receptacle 3I is providedand it has connections with a pump 32 whereby water is caused to besprayed over the pipes of the The water which is not evaporated on thecondenser returns through the drain pipe 34 to the recep- 30 tacle 3!.

The refrigerant condensed in the condenser 2| flows into the receiver 35and from thence through the pipe 36 to the expansion valve 31. Thisvalve may be of the type which automatically introduces refrigerant intothe evaporator I2 when the pressure therein is reduced below apredetermined limit. The valve may also be provided with a thermostaticbulb 38 which throttles the valves 31 whenever the 40 refrigeratingeffect in the evaporator I2 reaches the outlet thereof. a

The calibration of valve 31 is such that the temperature of the outersurface of the evaporator .I2 is above the freezing point of water andthus any moisture condensed from the air flowing over the evaporatortrickles into the pan 39 and drains through the pipe 40 into thepassageway where the condenser is located. Here the water eventually isevaporated and is discharged through the conduit 21 outside the room.

The conduit structure 23 is provided with a false sill structure 40whichextends along the sides of the structure 23 and cooperates with thesides of the window 22 so that the sash 4| is substantially in air-tightrelationship with the sill 40 as is readily apparent.

In themodification shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the cabinet 50 is providedwith an air cooling section 5| in which there is located an evaporator52. Air is caused to flow through the section 5| by a fan 53 driven by amotor 54. Air may enter the section 5| through an air inlet 55 and maybe discharged into the room through an outlet 56. The cabinet 5|! isprovided with a compressor compartment 5! in which a compressor 58 islocated and is driven by a motor 59. The compressed refrigerant flowsthrough a pipe 60 to a condenser 6|. The condensed refrigerant flowsinto the receiver 62 and from thence through a pipe 65 to a valve 64having the usual thermostatic bulb. The valve 64 and the thermostaticbulb are similar in action to valve 31 and bulb 38 respectively. Theevaporated refrigerant flows through the pipe 66 to the compressor 58.-

Means are provided for circulating water over the condenser 6| thus awater receptacle 10 is provided having flowing connections with a pump Hwhich permit it to spray water over the condenser 6| through thespray-head I2, the water which is not evaporated being drained back tothe receptacle 10 through the pipe 13 after the same is caught by thedrip pan 14. The water-fiow connections may include a heat absorbingwater-flow section 15 in the form of a water coil which absorbs the heatgenerated by the compressor 58 and motor 59 in the compartment 51.

Air-flow conduits 16 and 11 are supported on the cabinet 50 at 18. Theseconduits permit the circulation of air into and out of the condensercompartment 18 through the medium of a motordriven blower whichdischarges through the conduit 16. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, abafile is placed between the condenser 6| and the inlet for the blower80. Air entering through conduit 11 is, therefore, required to flow overthe major portion of the condenser before being discharged through theconduit 16. With applicants arrangement the air passing through thespray chamber cannot enter the outlet conduit 16 directly but musttravel around the baffle as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. By virtueof this arrangement the air flowing out through conduit 16 will notcarry with it any appreciable amount of water. The conduits l6 and 11may be provided with a false sill structure 8| which may be made of asize to seal around the conduits 76 and H and against the sides of thewindow 82 so that when the sash B3 is lowered a substantially air-tightrelationship ensues.

The moisture condensed on the surface of the evaporator 52 falls intothe drain pan 84 from whence it drains through branch 85 into pipe 13and receptacle 1|]. Eventually the water is evaporated on the surface ofcondenser 6| and is carried out of the room by the air circulatingthrough the conduits l6 and 11.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed,constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. Air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet provided with a heat absorber and a heat dissipator therein,means to circulate air over said heat dissipator,

a rigid conduit having an open side and being adjustably secured alongits open side to said cabinet and adapted to pass through a window ofsaid room, said conduit having air-flow connections with said heatdissipator, and means for discharging moisture removed from the air bysaid heat absorber into thermal exchange relationship with said heatdissipator.

2. Air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet provided with a heat absorber and a heat dissipator therein, arigid conduit adjustably and slidably secured to said cabinet andadapted to pass through a window of said room, said conduit having asubstantially fiat upper surface and having air-flow connections withsaid heat dissipator, and means for discharging water into the airflowing through said conduit before said air leaves said heatdissipator.

3. Air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet provided with a heat absorber and a heat dissipator therein, arigid conduit having an open side and having a partition to provide airintake and air discharge passages adjustably secured along its open sideto said cabinet and adapted to pass through a window of said room, andmeans for forcibly spraying water removed from the air by said heatabsorber into the air flowing through said conduit, said conduit havingair-flow connections with said heat dissipator.

4. An air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet having a condenser compartment at the top, an evaporatorcompartment below said condenser compartment and a compressorcompartment below said evaporator compartment, means to circulate airinto said room, through said condenser compartment and out of said room,means to circulate air through said evaporator compartment and into saidroom, a motor drivingly connected to said compressor, said evaporator,condenser and compressor being in refrigerant flow relationship, andmeans in addition to said refrigerant for transferring heat from saidcompressor compartment to said condenser compartment.

5. An air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet having a condenser compartment in the upper part of saidcabinet,

an evaporator compartment below said condenser compartment and acompressor compartment,

-means to circulate air into said room, through said condensercompartment and out of said room and means to circulate air through saidevaporator compartment and into said room, a motor drivingly connectedto said compressor, said evaporator, condenser and compressor being inrefrigerant flow relationship, a water pump, and water flow meansconnected to said pump and including means for spraying water over saidcondenser, and a heat absorber in said compressor compartment.

6. An air conditioning apparatus for a room or the like comprising acabinet having a condenser compartment, an evaporator compartment and acompressor compartment, means to circulate .air into and out of saidroom and through said condenser compartment, means to circulate air tobe cooled through said evaporator compartment and into said room, amotor drivingly connected to said compressor, said evaporator, condenserand compressor being in refrigerant flow relationship, a water pump, andwater flow means connected to said pump and including means air forcooling said heat exchanger and arranged for spraying water over saidcondenser and a water coil in said compressor compartment.

7. In apparatus for conditioning the air in an enclosure having anopening in a wall thereof, the combination of a cabinet structure havinga compartment therein and having ana'pertured vertical wall facing saidwall opening, means arranged within said cabinet structure forconditioning the air in the enclosure and including a heat exchangerfrom which heat is to be abstracted and which is disposed within saidcompartment, inlet and outlet ducts for conveying for communicationwiththe opening in said enclosure wall, said ducts being arranged inabutting relationship to said apertured vertical wall and beingadjustably supported by said cabinet structure, whereby communicationwith wall openings of various elevations is provided, and means fordischarging Water into the cooling air before said cooling air leaves'said heat exchanger whereby evaporative cooling of said heat exchangeris effective.

HARRY B. HULL.

